henderson



C. HENDERSON SHEET REGISTER MECHANISM.

' APPLICATION FILED MAY 9. 191a.

Patented Dec. 9, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET C. HENDERSON.

SHEET REGISTER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MM. 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H mmmw CARL HENDERSON, OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO MIEHLE PRINTING PRESS &

MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A

CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SHEET-REGISTER MECHANISM. I

To all-whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL HENDERSON, a citizen of the United States, residin at Oak Park, in the county of Cook and tate of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Register Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

With few exceptions, it has been customary heretofore to feed the sheets individually to a printing press against substantially stationary gages or guides, so that during the travel of the paper it is neces-' sarily stopped 'in its movement, at least momentarily, to secure the desired registration. In such cases the inertia of the paper must be instantly overcome when the grippers of the impression cylinder, which are constantly traveling at full speed, grasp the sheet and transfer it to the cylinder. As will be appreciated, in a structure of that character the gages and grippers must operate with great precision to secure registration of the sheet and its transfer or clamping to the rapidly traveling impression cylinder. In. other words, when a sheet of paper is gaged and gripped in a press of this kind the stationary sheet has'instantaneously imparted to it the full speed of travel of the impression cylinder periphery, which renders accurate registration difiicult if not impossible. Moreover, an instant before the grippers close, the guides must get out of the way, leaving the sheet uncontrolled dur ing this instant, affording a further chance for error in getting accurate register.

The present invention has for its primary object the provision of improved means for securing accurate front and side registration of sheets fed to a printing couple, Without stopping the sheet in its forward movement and at substantially the speed of the sheet taking grippers and the impression cylinder, whereby the full speed capacity of the press is utilized without its bemg limited in any way by the necessary registering process, while the correct registry of the sheet is in no Way impaired by the speed of the sheet travel. I

This object is accomplished according to my invention by providing a rotary sheet registering mechanism including front and side gages traveling at the same speed as the grippers on'the' impresslon cylinder, and also including means for first frictionally Specification of Letters Patent.

adjacent the front gage and Patented Dec. $1919.

Application filed May 9, 1918. Serial No. 233,413.

seizing the front of the sheet at the point of dellvery by the sheet feeder approximately advancin the sheet to the said gage to effect prelimlnary front register; also for next similarl engaging the side of the sheet and drawlng it laterally to a side gage traveling with the sheet to effect side register; and thereafter imparting to the front gaging mechanism a renewed movement to correct any disarrangement of the preliminary front gaging due to the side gaging, and finally pulling the frictional means oil the sheet an instant after the same has been taken by the grippers on the impression cylinder,-the sheet registerlng mechanism and the grippers traveling in arcs approaching a point at which the path of the sheet is tangent to each whereby the front gage moves in its orbit into the path of the sheet as fed, and after the sheet is registered and is seized by the grippers of the impression cylinder moves out of the sheet path to enable the sheet to pass on with the impression cylinder without interruption or interference.

In order that a complete understanding of the invention and more orless of the details of construction of a preferred embodiment of the invention may be fully understood, I have illustrated in a more or less' fragmentary and diagrammatic manner one desirable embodiment of theinvention in the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and to which ref- .erence should be made. It is clear, however,

that the invention may be embodied in other and varied constructional forms without departure from the essence thereof, wherefore the drawing and description are to be taken in an illustrative rather than in an unneces- Preliminary front register.

Having reference to the drawings (Figs. 1 and 2) the impress-ion'cylinder is indicated at 11 provided with its grippers 12,

while adjacent and in parallel relation thereto is suitably mounted in the frame of loosely mounted acollar 1'? held stationary,

by means of an arm 18 which takes over the fixed rod 19 extending between the side frames of the press. The stationary collar 17 bears cams 20 and 21, the cam 20 having a dwell 20 the purpose of which will hereinafter appear.

-Loosely mounted upon said boss 16 of the arm 16 is a gage arm 22 carryin the front gage 23 and havin projecting erefrom lugs 24, 25 to the ormer of which is fulcrumed by the pivot 26 an angle lever 27, 28, while the lug 25 serves as a mountlng for a swivel block 29 screw threaded for engagement by a screw 30 mounted within a similar swivel block 31 and having a milled head 32. Fulcrumed on the gage arm 22 by the pivot 33 is an angle lever 34, 35. The arm 28 of the first mentioned angle lever carries a roller 36 adapted to travel on the cam 20 while the arm 34 of the other angle lever carries a roller 37 adapted to travel on the cam 21.

To the arm 27 of the first angle lever is connected by means of a in 38 and a slot 39 an arcuate shoe 40 which extends horizontally from another arm 41 which is like- Wise loosely mounted upon the boss 16*.

To the extreme front end of the shoe 40 is pivoted at 42 by means of a link 43 and a second pivot 44 the lower end 45 of a rod 46 which latter is mounted to slide within a swivel block 47 mounted at 48 in the outer end of the arm 35 of the second angle lever. The link 43 has projecting beyond its pivot 42 a flipper 49 the purpose of which will hereinafter be made clear.

A spring 50 serves to hold the roller 36 against its cam while a similar spring 51 serves the same purposewith reference to the roller 37. l

It should be understood that the shaft 13 extends the full width of the press and that a counterpart of the mechanism above described is mounted upon the shaft 13 and the rod "19 near the two sides of the press,

that is tosay separated a distance slightly less than the width of the paper to be fed, so that a front gage is provided for effect ing register of the sheets at the front edge adjacent each side. The arms 16 are slidable longitudinally upon the shaft 13 so as to properly position the two registering mechanisms in order to act upon the sheet at the proper point. The position ofeach having been determined, the arm 16 is clamped upon the shaft 13 by means of the set screw device 52 acting in an obvious manner. The knurled head 32 of the screw 30 maybe then manipulated by hand in order to position the gage arms 22 on the two mechanisms in exact transverse alinement and in the proper position longitudiimpression cylinder by reason of its being tied to the arm 16 by means of the screw 30. The angle levers 27, 28, and 35, 36 likewise revolve with the arm 22, being fulcrumed thereto respectively at 26 and 33.

As the sheet 53 is fed to the press by the sheet feeder indicated at 54 its front edge comes against the front gage 23 or approximately in that position, usually within a sixteenth to a quarter of an inch therefrom. The roller 37 riding upon the cam 21 acts through the lever 34, 35 compressing the spring 55 and thus resiliently acting upon the-links 43 and the flipper 49 whereby the latter is closed upon the forward end of the sheet 53 frictionally gripping the same between the flipper and the lower face of the shoe 40, the degree of said spring pressure being regulable by means of the knurled nuts 56. Immediately thereafter the roller 36 riding upon the cam 20 moves the angle lever 27, 28 thereby advancing the shoe 40 and the flipper 49 relative to the gage arm 22 and the gage 23, the gage traveling at the speed of the grippers and the shoe 40 at a slightly greater speed by reason of the action of the lever. The sheetgripped at its forward edge between the flipper 49 and the shoe 40 is likewise advanced until it comes in contact with the gage 23 whereupon meeting with this obstruction the sheet continues its movement at the speed of the gage which corresponds to that of the impression cylinder while the shoe 40 and the flipper 49 moves at a faster speed, subject to a momentary dwell during side register which will be now explained.

Side register.

Upon the shaft 13 outside the two mechanisms for effecting front register of the sheet above described, is a similar organization of mechanism for effectin side register of the sheet (Fig. Hereln the side gage arm 60 is keyed to the shaft 13 by means of an extended boss 60*, and a similar collar 17 is loosely mounted upon the boss 60*, and held in stationary position by means of the arm 18 embracing as before the shaft 19. This collar is provided with a cam 61 in one plane and another cam 62 in a; difi'erent plane. The side gage arm 60 carries the side gage .64, the position of which is adjustable transversely of the press and longitudinally ofthe shaft 13 b means of the adjusting screw 65 journaled in the collar 66 clamped to the shaft 13 and,

threaded in the lug 67 on the boss 60, the screw being operable by means of its knurled head for the positioning of the gage 64 after which the arm 60 is clamped in position upon the shaft by means of the clam screw 68. Transversely slidable Within the gage arm 60 is a shoe 69 carryin a; roller 70 which works within an ob ique slot 71 of an angle lever 72, 73, the opposite arm of which lever has a roller 74 arranged to travel upon the cam 61. The other end of the shoe 69 opposite the roller 70 has pivoted theretoat 75 an arm 76 connected by means of a rod 77 with a link 78 pivoted at 79 to the shoe 69, WhlCh link 78 1s extended to form a flipper 80. The rod 77 is surrounded by a compression s ring 81, the tension of which is adjustab e by means of the knurled nut 82. A coil sprlng 83 much stifi'er than 81 holds the stops 84 of the lever 76 against shoe 69. The angle lever 72, 73 is fulcrumed to the gage arm 60 upon a pivot 85, and similarly pivoted to said arm at 86 is an anglelever 87, 88, the arm 88 of which is provided with a roller SS-arranged to ride upon the cam 62, while the opposite arm 87 of said lever has an offset portion provided with an inclined face 90 adapted to engage the arm 76 whereby to open and permit to close the flipper 80. i

In use, the flipper 80 is normally closed, being held in this position by the tension of the springs 81 and 88. As the sheetis approached approximately to the gage 23 for front register as previously described the cam roller 89 rides upon the cam 62 opening the flipper 80 to allow the side edge of the sheet to pass and to offer no hindrance to the action of the front register mechanism.

Preliminary front register having been obtained the roller 89 rides off the cam 62 closing the flipper 80 upon the sheet 53 at the side thereof. Shortly thereafter the roller 74 rides upon the cam 61 bringing theoblique slot 71 to bear through the roller upon the shoe 69, drawing the sheet 53 to the left, as shown in Fig. 3, against the side gage 64, the flip er sliding upon thesheet during the furt er lateral movement of the flipper and shoe after the side registration of the sheet.

F inal front register.

It not infrequently happens that after the preliminary front registration of the sheet, the lateral movement of the sheet in the act of securing side register destroys to a slight extent the front register at one or both of the front gages, particularly if the sheet means to engage the front and be out of square. In order to correct this, I provide the came 20, which controls the forward feeding movement of the shoe 40, with a certain dwell, as indicated at 20, for

traverse by the roller, 36 during the o era tion of the side register mechanism. after side registration is complete, the roller 36 passes beyond the dwell 20 and again advances the shoe '40 to elfect final perfect front register.

The front gage 23 continuesin its uniform movement at the-speed of the grippers on the impression cylinder, the sheet being held against the shoe 40 and abutting the gage 23 by the flippers 49 until the grippers on the impression cylinder have gripped the forward end of the sheet. This transfer takes place on the tangent point of the shoe 40 with the impression cylinder 11 so that the flipper 49 and the grippers 12 can both be on the sheet at the tangent point and in fact an instantlater. During the next one-eighth inch travel of the cylinder beyond the tangent point, the shoe 40 has moved the flipperforward out from under the sheet so that the latter is free to continue its path on the impression cylinder. At the moment the grippers close on the sheet, the flipper 80 still has hold of the sheet and during the next one-eighth inch of travel of the cylinder, the flipper draws out from under the sheet and allows it to pass freely with the impression cylinder. The flipper then remains closed until the next cycle starts. After the sheet is taken the roller 74 rides off of high part of cam 61 bringing the shoe 69 back to its starting position. The roller 37 then clears the high part of cam 21 and the flipper 49 is opened by the actlon of the spring 51 and is then ready to receive the next sheet as it comes into posltion. Similarly roller 36 clears the high part of cam 20 and spring 50 restores the lever to Its original position with the with the printing couple and its ri ers of sheet resistering g pp mechanism comprising side of the sheet, and means to actuate the sheet-engaglng means stepby step intermittently to secure n succession preliminary front register, slde reglster and then final front registe I 2. In a printing press, the combination with the printing couple and its grippers, of sheet registering mechanism comprising means to frictionally engage the sheet, and means to impart step by step movement to the sheet-engaging means whereby to effect front register in preliminary and 'final stages, and means operating to effect side register after the preliminary front regishen lli

tration'and before the final front registration.

3. In a printing press, the combination with the printing'couple and its grippers, of

sheet registering mechanism comprislng a device to enga e the front of the sheet, a front gage, a evice to engage the side of the sheet, a side gage, means to actuate the first named device step 'b step to secure front register in prelimlnary and final stages, and means to actuate the second named device to secure side register in the interim between the preliminary and final front register.

4c. In a printing press, the combination with the printing couple and its ripper mechanism, of sheet registering mec anism com rising means to gage the front and side of t c sheet, and means to actuate the same to secure in succession preliminary front register, side register and then final front register, said last named means comprlsing a cam having two operative surfaces acting upon the sheet feeding devices of the front registering mechanism to twice advance the sheet to the front gage with an intermediate dwell, and asecond cam having an opera tive surface acting upon the sheet feeding device of the side registering mechanism to shift the sheet laterally against the side gage during the interval between the two advance movements of the sheet.

5. In a printing press, the combination with the printing couple and its gripper mechanism, of means for imparting front and side register to a sheet fed to the printing couple without interrupting the forward movement of the sheet, comprising front gages mounted to revolve at the speed of the grippers in a curved path into and.

out of the sheet path, a side gage mounted to revolve at the spleed of the grippers in a curved path to-w ich the plane of the sheet path is tangent, revoluble sheet feeding devices traveling with the front and side gages, means to actuate the sheet feeding devices of the front registering mechanism to advance the sheet to the front gage, means to actuate the sheet-feeding device of the side register mechanism to shift the sheet laterally against the side gage, and means to again actuate the sheet feeding device of the front registering mechanism to advance the sheet to the front gage to effect final front register after securing side register.

6. In a printing press, the combination with the printing couple and its gri per mechanism, of means for impartin ront and side register to a sheet fed to t e couple without interrupting the forward movement of the sheet, comprising a front gage mounted to revolve at the speed of the earner gripper mechanism of the printing couple in a curved path into and out of the sheet path a slde gage mounted to revolve at the speed of the gripper mechanism in a curved path to which the plane of the sheet path is tangent, revolublesheet feeding devices traveling with the front and side gages, a cam havin two operative surfaces acting upon the sleet feeding device of the front reglstering mechanism to twice advance the sheet to the front gage with an intermediate dwell, and a second cam having an operative surface acting upon the sheet feeding device of the side registering mechanism to shift the sheet laterally against the side gage during the interval between the two advance movements of the sheet, whereby to effect first a preliminary front register, then side register, and then a final front register of the sheet.

7. In a printing press, the combination with the printing couple and its gripper mechanism, of means for imparting front and side register to a sheet fed to the couple without interrupting the forward movement of the sheet, comprising a front gage mounted to revolve at the speed of the gripper mechanism of the printing couple in a curved path into and 'out of the sheet path, a side gage mounted to revolve at the'speed of the ripper mechanism in a curved path to whic the plane of the sheet path is tangent, revoluble sheet feeding devices traveling with the front and side gages, a cam having two operative surfaces acting upon the sheet feeding device of the front registering mechanism to twice advance the sheet to the front gage with an intermediate dwell, and a second cam having an operative surface acting upon the sheet feeding device of the side registering mechanism to shift the sheet laterally against the side gage during the interval between the two advance movements of the sheet, whereby to effect first a preliminary front register, then side register, and then a final front register of the sheet, the sheet feeding devices comprising shoes revolubly mounted to move in an orbit corresponding substantially to those of the gages and also in said orbit toward and from the gages, a flipper hinged to the forward end of each shoe, and means to operate the flippers to press the sheet frictionally against the shoes.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CARL HENDERSON.

Witnesses:

H. M. HoBBINs, I J. R. BLAINE. 

